Week in Pop: The Doppelgangaz, Kisses, Maxmillion Dunbar, Real Magic

This week brought glimpses of spring’s upcoming comotion in our crystal ball forecasts, otherwise known as pop news feeds. Warner Bros purchased Parlophone from Universal to the astronomical tune of a sweet $765 mil. James Blake dropped word of a new album and got all “Retrograde” on us. Phoenix got their mits on the console used for Michael Jackson‘s Thriller to record their forthcoming album, Bankrupt! We also got Autechre‘s new album Exai a month early than expected. There was also news of o.g. stone-age-rock-queen Elton John appearing on the new Queens of the Stone Age album. And we can now look forward to having the addition of Earl-not-in-juvie-anymore-Sweatshirt joining his OFWGKTA pals for the upcoming second don’t-try-this-at-home season of Loiter Squad. And oh yeah, My Bloody Valentine followed through on a 21 year plus promise with the full-length, mbv. With the last item engulfing our ears, minds and shoegazer souls, we continue the survey of yesterday, today and tomorrow’s newest hitmakers in no particular order.

Get ready for another edition of Push The Feeling happening tonight in San Francisco, February 8 at Underground SF with LA Vampires (DJ Set, 100% Silk/Not Not Fun) with Roche (Live, 100% Silk/Mathematics ), and your resident crew YR SKULL, and epicsauce DJs. The action begins at 9pm, 21+ $5 and free before 10pm with RSVP. Coast off now to Roche’s undead electro of “Psycho Zombie Dreams” from the album A Night At The Hac available from 100% Silk.

New York’s upstate dualling forces EP and Matter Ov Fact of Doppelgangaz drop their “Hark Back” single off their upcoming album HARK available March 12 from Groggy Pack Entertainment, LLC. Awakening from their park nap, Matter Ov spills some Black Cloak Life tales of those who have fallen into the trap like, “I guess they once bitten twice shy, in the beginning they were smitten by the nice guy, until he got them for the sliced rye, now they in jail with the bail price high”. The two follow up their album Lone Sharks and past extended players with further self-made beats and flows with an industrial 808 production that keeps the backdrop tense with running man dance rhythms to psych out the score. Peep their self-directed video with photography direction from Big Josh that features b/w car noir street patrolling, seagulls in flight, ominous flames and a lot of bossy activity.

Welcome Kisses to their new home at Cascine with their new single “The Hardest Part”. The LA duo of Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson are crafting their second record, Kids in LA for release May 14 that draws from a retro underground of synths, program-treated guitar tones and further canonical dance fashions enhanced from production courtesy of Sait Etienne’s Pete Wiggs and Tim Laracombe. Describing that even the “best love leaves you open” spanning from feelings of vulnerability to realizations of love’s instinctual and natural attractions, and hinting that the hardest part lies in relationship management and upkeep difficulties. “At the end of the day when you go away and you leave and softly say that falling in love is the hardest part, I’m not sure, I’m not sure”.

Maxmillion Dunbar drops the Aurora Halal thermal lit dance action visuals for the single “Loving the Drift” from the forthcoming House of Woo. The keys move like vapors while other flying effects makes sounds like digital bird calls, and then the rhythms propel the synthesized motions and an electric bass sequence grows a brain of its own. When the visuals distract from Maxmillion’s million dollar programming, you will feel like ultra-violet rays hitting your window’s blinds in a slow speed of light that shatters the image in over-exposed explosions. Dunbar’s House of Woo comes out February 18 UK, February 19 stateside from RVNG Intl.

Bay Area by Denver’s Drew Englander is Real Magic, and he prepares his album Deep Breathing for release March 12 from HUG Records. The first single from the full-length disc brings something familiar and always new, all at once with the electric vision quest of “The Trance”. Englander’s play on words for vision describes the trance as bearing witness to life’s transformations, “empty and cold we watched it pass, we are on our own, alone at last”. Encapsulated within the synthesized sound stream underlies the lyrical buttressing of raw personal affects that occur within the receding hurt of even the tightest of former bonds.”Strip me of worth, I’ve come back down, forget these words, I’m nothing now, but oh to be loved and to love somebody too, and though I’m sinking below I never wanted to hurt you.” In Englander’s own words:

“I recorded ‘Deep Breathing’ in the closet of my apartment in Denver, CO using a guitar, a synthesizer, a few drum machines and my voice. It is a deeply contemplative and personal album for me, although I want it to be very accessible. When I wrote “No Things Left” and “Crip Tics” a couple years ago, I had just started experimenting with electronics for the first time and that was all I used. I thought of myself as more of a producer then, I suppose, and much of what I wrote at that time was simply an exploration of all those new electronic tools. Writing Deep Breathing was a very different process. I finally felt comfortable enough with my production that I could focus on songwriting and singing. Instead of burying my vocals in the mix like I’ve done in the past, I built these songs around my voice. I was much more interested in creating dramatic narratives than dance-floor beats this time around. I also wanted to make myself vulnerable and exposed, which is terrifying but feels honest. These songs are about lots of different things… death/oblivion, love, self-doubt, attachment, impermanence, the idea of illusion…”The Trance” is a pretty good example of what I was thinking about: “whether we’ve made this up, we’re entranced by its truth.” We believe whatever intrigues us and we make it our reality. The truth is in the decision to believe it.”

From the Funk Volume and giving up previous Smokeout Conversations, peep Dizzy Wright‘s Urbanlinx Productions video for “Verbalizing” with DJ iLL Will. Will keeps the keys sparse and echoing, Dizzy talks about “what are dreams for”, coming of age, and orchestrating motivation and a legacy in mind. Look forward to hearing more from Mr. Wright this spring.

Beat Radio dropped the thrilling storming love letter “Hurricanes, XO” from the the album Hard Times, Go! available on digital and limited edition wax on February 19 through Awkward For Life Records.

The wait for Kilo Kish‘s mixtape K+ is over as it is available on her homepage and streaming following this message. As a graduate of the tumblr-fashion-music-yolo-stream culture, K+ presents her most realized, self-conscious throughout beit “goldmine”, “ghost” or just “trappin” or getting into the key frenzy pop of scones with lots of attention to the recording creation that provides a virtual listener interaction where she is joined by friends like, A$AP Ferg, Earl Sweatshirt, Childish Gambino, CRONOS, The Internet (naturally), Flatbush Zombies, Nick Hook, SBTRKT, Star Slinger, Vince Staples and other partners in craft.

Go behind the scenes of Kish‘s K+ album and installation on process in the Vinny Picone and Jamal Peters Varsity Collective video.

The Synth wiz Kansas City, Umberto delivered a listen to his album Confrontations available from Not Not Fun.

In recognition of James Dewitt “J Dilla” Yancey’s past February 7 birthday, Karriem Riggins reminisces, gives praise and a promise to keep the great one’s legacy alive in the YoursTru.ly video for “J Dilla the Greatest”.

In tribute to Ohio Player Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner, Karriem Riggins gives a toast to one of the funkiest from one of the funkiest states that has shaped your favorite hip-hop memories. Riggins switches up and mixes up Sugarfoot’s legacy with a new cut and looped rhythmic bent. Catch Karriem DJing February 22 in Toronto and February 23 in Montreal.

Brooklyn’s Field Mouse have expanded their sound from the core duo of Rachel Browne and Andrew Futral with the newest additions of Danielle DePalma on bass and Geoff Lewit on drums to drive their sound into larger proportions. As they prepare their first full-length disc for Small Plates Records, Rachel gives us her lead “I know you are what you are” idyllic mean dream on the aptly titled, “Tomorrow is Yesterday” that pretends the new millennium never came and tomorrow is just an excuse from the yesteryears away.

Body Parts forthcoming single “Rest While You Sleep” b/w “Perfect Water” is coming February 19 from LA imprint, New Professor Music. The musical theater raised frontman/singer-songwriter Ryder Bach is joined by vocalist Alina Cutrono, Ray Proudfoot on bass and Taylor Dexter on drums to create a chiming guitar sound that could be a keyboard, or sharp key-tar. Just as clear as the Nick Tipp and Carl Saff production and mastering assists from LA’s Canyon Hut, Ryder’s vocals voice rings out in a clarity full of good will and cautious care for the intended recipient on the featured single, “Rest While You Sleep”; “You don’t don’t understand everyone as well as you think you do, often life is an accident that just happens to you, it’s okay, it’s okay, you will fail, it’s okay, first you will try and do the best you can, you will be fine if you could rest while you sleep, just settle down when you should…”

DJ twosome Young Adults, consisting of Lazy Brow and Deepboy drop a listen to their new mix YAcuh008 ahead of their House Slippers compilations that features the likes of Mark E, Permanent Vacation, Grown Folk, Chamboche, etc dropping April 23 from their own Young Adults Recordings.

7evenThirty‘s tribute to the memory of his girl Jada, “GOD” gets remixed from Georgia Anne Muldrow. With Thirty sharing the emotional weight of belief through loss, the most hardened atheist within you will shed a tear around the verse of, “You so magnetic the planet can’t even handle it/ You such a star, you make me believe in God”. 7evenThirty’s album Heaven’s Computer is available now from the Mello Music Group.

Meet Rollin Hunt who has been working away on his forthcoming The Phony LP for Moniker Records and gives the world a listen to the single, “Beautiful Park”. Hunt armed with enough toys to fill a Chicago warehouse presents the lesser recognized beauties, “in darkest night, in roughest fight,” further synthesized by friend Doni Schroader.

The Cyclist drops the Miko Revereza video for “Visions,” with various arrangements of symbols, patterns in time to the lo-fi tape beat and organ bellow-crackle. Word has it that the LP Bones In Motion will be available March 26 from Stones Throw / Leaving Records.

Get hyperactive and strange with Greg Raih’s vintage sourced video for The Outfit‘s “Strange Bones” from their currrent album, Broken West Wishbone Test.

Tape Deck Mountain‘s Travis Trevisan presents his last days in San Diego before making that jump to Brooklyn in the upcoming Slow Salvation EP available March 12 from Lefse. Get into the string of mixed emotions, ethos, pathos, logos and a fistful of high art distortion exercises on the EP track leak, “kellies”.

Norwegian five piece, Highasakite dropped their single “Son of a Bitch” with Helene Håvik instructs you to “hold my hair while I vomit” and goes on the “take the highway to the ceiling” offense from the forthcoming In and Out EP available March 5 from Propeller Recordings. Helene’s delivery makes being called an s.o.b. almost a term of endearment and even takes the gross out of throwing up some how.

Field Music remixes Dutch Uncles‘ “Nomento” ahead of the Uncles’ forthcoming album Out of Touch In the Wild dropping April 2 from Memphis Industries. From the Field, David Brewis breathes some extra vocal soul on the Mancunians’ track, keeps things electric, the sun glasses stay on and the heads keep nodding forward in time to the beat.

Get a glimpse of U.S. Girls performing “I Don’t Have a Mind of My Own” as one of FatCat’s Sessions filmed at Brighton, UK’s Green Door Store. The dichotomy between frontwoman visionary Meghan Remy and fellow guitarist/concept/Calico Corp operator Slim Twig both showcase their glam rock attitudes and styles adorned in the celluloid spiraling film designed by Dave Howell and Tom Lavis from FatCat. The new U.S. Girls album GEM is available from FatCat Records.

Roberto Carlos Lange, aka Helado Negro is preparing to release Invisible Life March 5 from Asthmatic Kitty and was kind enough to share with us the summer month of “Junes” tribute in this electro space-suit dance-track jumper.

Chicago dream machine makers, Psychic Twin are releasing their Strangers 7″ release March 5 from Polyvinyl and we have a listen to the title track led by Erin Fein’s vocal beams that makes all familiarity seems strange again.

Harlem by Virginia’s Evenings drops the soothing and smart rhythms of “Friend [Lover]”. A song for anyone who has every wanted a friend, a song for anyone that has wanted to understand the nerve quenching disarm of a lover, and for anyone who has never understood the difference. Evenings’ LP Yore will be available April 16 from Friends of Friends.

Peep the Joey Bada$$ “Underground Airplay” Creative Control video that features Smoke DZA and Big K.R.I.T. in subway undergrounds and alleys repping the New York states of mind that owe much love to that 1990s underground and production methods that turn it up to the 9s. Pro Era 4 life.

Gun Outfit presents their new ground soaring, “Flyin’ Low, Maria” ahead of their third album Hard Coming Down available April 2 from PPM Records.

Also catch the trailer for the Joe DeNardo film, “Where’s Anton” that pertains to the Gun Outfit.

Mikal Cronin has exclaimed his new slick garage single “Shout It Out” from the forthcoming album MCII, available May 7 stateside and May 13 for European fans from Merge Records. The Merge signing comes after Cronin’s extensive tours with buddy Ty Segall, Tim Presley & White Fence, and Mikal’s own band as he hits a new massive FM radio stride with swelling guitar roars of “shit goes on and on and on” amid the back and forth of, “do I shout it out, do I let it go”. The precursor to this new infectious chorus statement is presented with the calm and thoughtful pause before the storm of, “I won’t admit it but my time is running low, I’m getting closer to the door, it’s getting late I need to go”, as Mikal sets his sights to take over the charts while playing all instruments .

Lara Miranda captures Dawn McCarthy and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy‘s Nashville recording sessions for their forthcoming album, What the Brothers Sang available February 19 from Drag City. Taking you by rail and by trail, get a peak of Dawn and Prince talking Everlies memories, and sneak peaks of takes in the booth to the full studio experience like the harmonizing processes of sang moments like, “Is it any wonder, that I feel so blue, when I know for certain that I’m losing you.”

Hey Anna drops the new single “Tiny Kiss”, where New York sisters Anna, Erin Rauch-Sasseen and Katie joined by Andrew Smolin and Matthew Langner make a sound that beams in choruses like celebratory church bells. And as the voices and keys drift like sound flake waterfall cascades in reverse; the sisters wish they could “make each day 100 hours”, and further expand time in that brief coupling moment. “I wish that we could stay, a thousand years this way”. Their self-titled EP is available now from Bandcamp.

Psychobuildings lays on the thick synth pop electro dramatics with “Always On the Mind” that features MNDR.

Peep the b/w Alex/2Tone music video for the Liars latest album title track “WIXIW”. Check out how a game of shooting hoops turns into an ancient, anticipatory ritual.

Gensu Dean & Planet Asia kicks with some old school vinyl crate savy beats and boats with, “Chuck Berry (feat. Shawn Pen)” from their forthcoming Mello Music Group February 26 release of Abrasions that boasts appearances from David Banner, Tristate, Tragedy Khadafi, Gold Chain Military, and more.

Get to know Elephant, London’s duo of Amelia Rivas and Christian Pinchbeck who dropped by a listen their single “Skyscraper” available on 7″ March 26 from Memphis Industries. Join Amelia and Christian as they “scrape the sky” with a sound of, doo-wop-redux chorus samples that fly upward toward the stratospheres and will inspire finger snaps and side to side body sways in time.

While we were looking the other way, KOOL A.D. followed up his tape 51 with 63 and 19 available here for you to download or stream. Dive in as productions from folks like Amaze 88, Mike Finito, Pictureplane, Trackademics, Young L, and more fill the atmosphere’s waves, while a few friends like Busdriver, DaVinci, Issue, Lakutis, Meyhem Lauren and more stop on by for a verse or two.

In catching up with Alberta Cross, we got a peak at the nitty-gritty, Grant James directed video of boxed-in-nightmare-anxieties in, “Crate of Gold” that features Sons of Anarchy’s Drea De Matteo.

Curly Castro dropped the “Coal featuring Has-Lo” with some solemn, but real heavy hearted production from Georgia Anne Muldrow. Castro utilizes a story book telling method to get a message across about growing up on the segregated side of the tracks and the conflicts and contrasts of school yard discriminations and duress with, “a science project malfunctioned and there I stood, I wasn’t an informant, never spoke what I saw, but looking for the villain and my name was called, but truth be told to my mom, of course when the coal is accused to the pit it’s tossed”. For more conscious flows and tales, Castro’s album FIDEL, will be released for free on February 19 from Man Bites Dog Records.

Le Crayon gets cosmic on the synth-interstellar lounge-wave of, “Cosma” is featured on the Kitsuné Parisien III compilation available now from the French-dance taste-making, textilers.

Get your dance on for Dog Bite‘s John Merizalde video for “Prettiest Pills” from the debut Velvet Changes LP available now from Carpark Records.

The legendary Lisa Germano shares her single “And So On” from her forthcoming album No Elephants, available February 12 from Badman Recording Co. Germano’s letter like song resounds like love notes that are “running after” ghostly lovers in, “dreams and such” before the cell phone buzz interference wakes the dream world when the digital-data-distortion cross feed picks up its own sequence.

Dylan Freitas-D’Louhy gives you an intimate look at Hiero’s own DJ Touré and his come up with A-Plus, Casual, Opio, etc in the video “EPK” that discusses his work from Hiero to Philly’s rising rapper Freeway.

Kishi Bashi has a three 7″ single box set of extended players from the 151a full-length on the way from Joyful Noise Recordings March 19 and offers this string laden soothing cover of Beirut’s “A Sunday Smile”.

Jaki Liebezeit and Irmin Schmidt of Can and Kumo/Metamono‘s Jono Podmore and Burnt Friedman are Cyclopean, preparing their collaborative self-titled EP for release February 12 from Mute. Grab the visual of various shapes, colors, altered lights and diagrams as an experiment in percussion and ambience open strange doors that might be hard to close again.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra‘s new album II is available now from Jagjaguwar and you can catch the beach-dazed-days Danny Perez video for “So Good At Being in Trouble” that features Christopher Mintz-Plasse trying to break his babes out of an oddball, counter-culture hippie-psych-sect.

Hanni El Khatib presents his we are “Family” rock and roller that spells it out for you, F-A-M-I-L-Y “til the day we die” from the forthcoming Dan Auerbach produced album, Head In The Dirt available April 30 from Innovative Leisure.

Toro Y Moi‘s Anything In Return is available now from Carpark Records and we have a view into Chaz’s thoughts on recording in a little YoursTru.ly sesh for “High Living”.

Laura Stevenson is readying her new album Wheel for Don Giovanni Records set for release April 23 and shares a listen to her 7″ single, “Runner”. In an escapist’s dash about shedding the “summer hurt”, Stevenson presents the run and gun drive to overcome any allegations of running-in-place stagnation.

We approached the live session of Chet Faker covering “No Diggity” with a degree of caution and got lost in it for a minute while enjoying a little low key, bit of bearded acoustic soft-soul.

Check out Brian Eno’s new favorite band, Port St. Willow as they plan to reissue an expanded edition of their debut album Holiday from Downtown Records. We have both the studio and the live version of PSW’s single “Amawalk” that deals with airy passage spaces and the open hearted sparse arrangements and emotion projections from Nicholas Principe and Jake Nussbaum.

And catch Port St. Willow take the expanse of their sound spaces further with this red lit, live performance of “Amawalk”.

The upcoming folk-singer-songwriting tribute, Reason To Believe – The Songs of Tim Hardin will be available on digital February 12, and on disc February 26 from Full Time Hobby. Grab your listen to Mark Lanegan‘s cover of “Red Balloon” with the cadence hum of sustains and the sparse, haunted, “blue, blue surprise” within the ruby inflated rubber.

Get a glance at Diego Contreras’ explosive fireworks in the video for ODESZA‘s straight forward titled single, “IPlayYouListen” from the self-released Summer’s Gone album available via ODESZA.

Kansas City, Missouri’s We Are Voices dropped their flame battling “Fighting Fires” single from their new second album Tread Lightly that presents the peak and valley pop anthems of fire fighters Lucas Larson, Eric Baldwin, Bookman Greenlee, and Carson Land fanning the emotional and titular, “tread lightly” care of warning signal calls for loved ones.

If cheerleaders hurling red sequined glitter is your idea of an electric good time, then check out MS MR’s Austin Peters directed video for “Fantasy” from the forthcoming Second Hand Rapture available May 14 from Creep City/Columbia.

In case you missed it, get all the synth fire, love and laughter, if you want it from “Wanderlust” ahead of Polly Scattergood‘s forthcoming April 1 album, Arrows for Mute.

Majical Cloudz present their Nate Chan and Johnny Toto video for YoursTru.ly with, “Turns Turns Turns” that is not the Pete Seeger/Byrds classic you might be thinking of. Featuring the soft evolving chamber song of Devon Welsh’s ecstatic, emotional delivery as news of their Matador Records signing and upcoming full-length continues to stir excitement between the air spaces of the cloudz and earth.

Burger Records is holding back from January’s 31 cassette releases for a humble 16 for this month of February. We just saw releases from La Luz with Damp Face, Elephant Stone‘s self-titled, The Orwells‘ Remember When, Unkle Funkle‘s Picture Of My Dick, and we have a listen to La Luz’s “Call Me in the Day” with post-50s girl group doo-wop traces that follow us into the current era.

Then on February 12, Burger Records is dropping The Lovely Bad Things new tape The Late Great Whatever, Warm Soda‘s Someone For You, BBQ‘s Tie Your Noose. Then on February 14 get ready for The Memories‘ Rainy Day Tape and a listen to their new DIY lo-fi-no-fi single,”I’m Easy” that just likes to “give it away” in no more than 50 seconds time.

And moving forward with Burger Records releases for February 19, look out for Outrageous Cherry‘s Best Of, Schlitzie‘s self-titled, The Hound of Love‘s Careful Houndy, and The Bell Gardens with Full Sundown Assembly. Then February 25 brings The Guitars‘ Anthology, Various Artists on the Party At The Tower: Fresno Rock N Roll 1980-88, Meercaz‘s self-titled, The Vex‘s self-titled, and the indie supergroup (Ric Menck of Velvet Crush, The Tyde and Josh Schwartz of Beachwood Sparks and Further), Stupid Cupids‘ heart shaped red vinyl cover release special just in time for V-day. Oh, and get ready for the global Burger Revolution happening March 8.

Keeping on the Burger train, San Francisco’s Burnt Ones dropped the new feedback-amped single, “Fountain of Youth” that acts like Top of the Pops 2 circa 1970-72 is alive and well for the ’13 from their second record You’ll Never Walk Alone available April 30 from Burger Records.

Prince Rama‘s Taraka and Nimai Larson has been constructing a “post-apocalyptic Guitar Center” pop-up store situated within Secret Project Robot. We will leave it to the invite to give you the break down of the sisters’ art demonstations from the now age:

“Installed in a reclaimed warehouse space, the evolution towards a de-materialized music is taken to its inevitable end; Guitar Center becomes an anachronistic marketplace and a mausoleum of signifiers and relics of rock and roll’s mythological past. In this ghost-modern interior landscape, trees grow upside down to support dangling disco balls, lasers are reduced to glimmering projections looped from youtube demo videos, and instruments are glossy reproductions haphazardly cut and arranged from old mail order catalogues, creating a hyper-real pastoralism that reeks of both post-technological emptiness and utopian promise.”

There is also word of a guitar “shred off” that has to be seen to be believed. Go to Facebook for more info.

It is our pleasure to present you the dates for Permanent Collection‘s US Tour for March 2013. Take notes of the above schedule, while their full-length Newly Wed Nearly Dead is available now from Loglady Records on 12″/LP/digital and on cassette via Skrot Up.